Cops firing blanks in sex exemption debate

Police in Hawaii may lose a law that allows them to have sex with prostitutes while on the job. Source: AAP

POLICE in Hawaii are facing the prospect of losing an exemption that allows them to have sex with prostitutes while on the job.

The state's Senate Judicial Committee chairman, Clayton Hee, has announced plans to get rid of the exemption in Hawaii's prostitution law that permits police to have sex, so long as it's part of an investigation.

His announcement at a committee hearing this week followed expressions of outrage after police had lobbied to keep the exemption for the so-called morals officers who are charged with the responsibility of investigating prostitution.

"To condone police officers' sexual penetration in making arrests is simply nonsensical to me," Hee said.

State legislators have been working to revamp Hawaii's decades-old law against prostitution. They toughened penalties against pimps and those who use prostitutes, and they also originally proposed scrapping the sex exemption for officers on duty.

But Honolulu police said last month that they needed the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Otherwise, they argued, prostitutes would insist on sex to identify undercover officers.

The legislation was then amended to restore the protection and the revised proposal passed the House and is now before the Senate.

While police say the exemption is necessary, Myles Breiner, a former Honolulu prosecutor who now works as a defence lawyer, testified that some of his clients who are prostitutes often complained to him that police had sex with them before making an arrest.

"How do we expect people to follow the law when the police engage in criminal conduct," Breiner asked.

Police testified in writing and in person to the House Judiciary Committee in February that keeping the exemption protected undercover officers from being found out. They said internal department protocols protected citizens against abuses.

Law enforcement experts say there's never any need to have sex with a prostitute to make an arrest, because the agreement to exchange money for sex is sufficient evidence of a crime.

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Double bombing kills seven in Iraq

A DOUBLE bombing has killed seven people north of Baghdad.

Police say the attack happened on Saturday morning when a roadside bomb exploded in a commercial street in the city of Tikrit.

Minutes later, a car bomb struck officers arriving to inspect the first blast.

Officials say five policemen and two civilians were killed and 18 people were wounded in the bombings.

Violence has spiked in Iraq since last April, a surge unseen since 2008. The relentless attacks have become the government's most serious challenge.

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Road accident kills 35 in Pakistan

A COLLISION between two passenger buses and a petrol tanker killed 35 people in southwest Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, with many of the victims burning to death.

A bus travelling to Karachi collided with the tanker in the early hours of the morning in Gadani district on the coast of Baluchistan province, senior administration official Akber Haripal told AFP.

"The bus and the tanker had a head-on collision and the oil tanker turned over, but the situation got worse when a second passenger bus coming from behind rammed into the first bus as it skidded on the oil spilled on the road," he said.

The first bus then caught fire, he said, adding that 35 people were killed, most burning to death while trapped inside the bus, and 30 were injured.

Amir Sultan, another senior administration official confirmed the incident and toll and said the dead bodies were "beyond recognition".

"These passengers buses travelling between Baluchistan and Karachi have automatic hydraulic doors and their windows are sealed because the buses are air conditioned, so most of the passengers were trapped inside," he said.

Sultan said the injured were being taken to Karachi after receiving first aid at a government-run medical dispensary because there was no hospital in the area.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

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Vic man, 73, dies in bungalow fire

A 73-YEAR-OLD man has died in a bungalow fire in central Victoria.

A woman in her late 50s who was unaccounted for when police and fire fighters discovered the body has been found and is uninjured.

Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullens said the house in Maintongoon, about 100km northeast of Melbourne, was well-alight by the time emergency services arrived shortly after 5.30pm (AEDT).

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Plane search focuses on debris

The PM says two objects possibly related to the search for flight MH370 have been identified. Source: AAP

THE global search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has its best new lead, with possible debris spotted in water west of Australia.

Military aircraft and merchant ships are racing to a position in the southern Indian Ocean about 2500 kilometres southwest of Perth, where a satellite identified two floating objects.

One measured about 24 metres, while the other was smaller.

Australian authorities say they are possible remnants of the Boeing 777 that went missing on a March 8 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 people, including six Australians and two New Zealanders.

But John Young of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was cautious not to raise hopes, saying the satellite imagery shows "a sort of blob" with no features to distinguish it as aircraft fragments.

"It's probably the best lead we have right now, but we have to get there, find them, see them, assess them to know whether it's really meaningful or not," the emergency response division manager said.

Water in the area is thousands of metres deep and searchers are battling poor visibility, with last light due about midnight (AEDT) on Thursday.

"Every lead is a hope," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

"This time I just hope that it is a positive development."

Mr Hussein said the Australian finding will not detract from a widespread international search, which continues combing areas identified by experts as being possible locations for the jet, based on MH370's fuel range.

Altogether there are 18 ships, 29 aircraft and six ship-borne helicopters working on the operation.

"Until we are certain we have found MH370, search and rescue operations will continue," he said.

Australia has been co-ordinating the search operation in the southern Indian Ocean.

If the debris belongs to the aircraft, it indicates MH370 ended up thousands of kilometres from its planned destination, raising further questions about why it changed course.

But the priority for AMSA remains identifying the bobbing objects.

It was not uncommon to find floating debris, including shipping containers that had been washed overboard, Mr Young said.

"On this particular occasion, the size and the fact that there are a number located in the sea at the same area really makes it worth looking at."

Authorities should know something definite about the objects within "two or three days", Australian Defence Minister David Johnston says.

Australia's defence forces were doing everything they could in one of the most remote locations in the world, Senator Johnston told AAP.

An RAAF C-130 Hercules has dropped marker buoys at the location identified by satellite, and military aircraft from Australia, New Zealand and the United States are combing the area.

A merchant ship was also headed to the area.

"(The objects) will be difficult to find. They might not be associated with the aircraft and we have plenty of experience of that in other searches," Mr Young said.

The search area is a long way from the Australian mainland and once aircraft reach the location, they have about only two hours of fuel before having to return to base.

Asked about his message to the family and friends of people on board flight MH370, Mr Young said Australia would continue to search until it found something.

"AMSA is doing its level best to find anyone who may have survived," he said.

Australia is sharing its information with 25 other countries involved in the search operation, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed on Thursday he had spoken to his Malaysian counterpart about the latest update.

Unfavourable weather is limiting visibility, which authorities say might hinder both air and satellite search efforts.

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Pell's legal view long held, inquiry told

An inquiry has heard George Pell has believed abuse victims should be able to sue the church. Source: AAP

CARDINAL George Pell has believed child sex abuse victims should be able to sue the Catholic Church for some time, his private secretary has told a royal commission.

Dr Michael Casey, who has been the Sydney archbishop's private secretary for more than a decade, said that while he had not heard Cardinal Pell express it in the terms quoted at the royal commission last week he understood it was his view.

"I think it was certainly his view that people had the right to take civil action against the church or church entities for sexual abuse."

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is looking at how the Archdiocese of Sydney handled a complaint by John Ellis that he had been abused while an altar boy by Father Aidan Duggan at Bass Hill in Sydney's southwest from 1974 to 1979.

Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan on Thursday asked Dr Casey when he became aware it was the cardinal's view the church should be able to be sued.

Dr Casey said he could not say with precision when he first became aware of it but it was "in recent times" that he heard it expressed in the terms quoted at the commission.

On the opening day of hearings last week a statement from Cardinal Pell said: "Whatever position was taken by the lawyers during the litigation, or by lawyers or individuals within the archdiocese following the litigation, my own view is that the church in Australia should be able to be sued."

The statement was reported widely in the media as a change of heart by the senior churchman.

Dr Casey said Cardinal Pell's statement did not surprise him and it was always taken for granted the church could be sued.

"I never understood anyone holding to a proposition that the church is not able to be sued."

When the Ellis case went to court, church lawyers argued that the defendants named by Mr Ellis, the property trustees and Cardinal Pell, were not proper defendants to be sued.

The landmark Supreme Court finding upheld that argument and has been seen as creating a legal shield for the Catholic Church.

Justice McClellan asked Dr Casey who Mr Ellis should have sued.

Dr Casey said he understood that the estate of Cardinal Pell's predecessor, Cardinal James Freeman - if insurances were in place - would be the entity.

He said Cardinal Pell's statement to the commission could be taken to mean "if there was not ... an entity to sue, then we should look to addressing that in some way - whether by giving legal personality to the entity in some other way - so there is someone to sue".

Dr Casey was also asked why he did not take up the recommendations of a national panel to offer Mr Ellis an apology and renewed effort at mediation.

When pressed by Justice McClellan he agreed he and the archbishop were party to the discussions which led to excluding mediation.

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SA Catholic official apologises to victims

A senior Catholic education officer has apologised to victims abused by a SA school bus driver. Source: AAP

A SENIOR Catholic education officer has apologised to the victims of "shocking and appalling" sexual abuse carried out by a bus driver who worked at an Adelaide special school.

Allan Dooley also said the school principal's handling of the initial complaints in 1991 was "unacceptable".

Mr Dooley, former director of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Adelaide, was giving evidence on Thursday at the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

It is investigating Adelaide's St Ann's Special School and its bus driver and volunteer, Brian Perkins, who sexually abused intellectually disabled boys between 1986 and 1991.

"For the former students and families, I am deeply sorry that the abuse at St Ann's ever occurred," Mr Dooley said.

He first heard of the abuse in July 2001, when a parent said she suspected her child had been molested after another parent told her former employee Perkins was a pedophile and police had been involved in the case.

The school had provided no information, nor support, and some parents did not even know there was a possibility their children had been abused, she said.

"I was shocked and distressed by the information," Mr Dooley said.

He immediately put in place processes involving church officials, parents, police and school staff and helped set up a St Ann's task force.

In August 2001, he met with Claude Hamam, principal at the relevant time, who said he did a police check before employing Perkins and it revealed nothing criminal.

But in June 2003, Mr Hamam admitted he had not checked up on Perkins, who had three previous child abuse convictions, leading Mr Dooley to recommend that Mr Hamam be dismissed.

At the earlier interview, Mr Hamam told him that Perkins provided private respite support for students' families, taking groups of boys on weekend camps and other excursions.

While the school had a policy that two members of staff accompanied children on trips, the respite was a private arrangement.

Mr Hamam said he told families it was their decision whether or not they allowed their children to go on trips with Perkins and such a move was not sanctioned by the school.

Mr Hamam also said he had no personal reservations about Perkins right up to the time police visited the school in 1991 saying Perkins had been caught with naked photos of students.

Perkins then disappeared, was not arrested until 1993, skipped bail and was not extradited until 2002 after Archbishop Philip Wilson put pressure on police who knew he was in Queensland.

Mr Dooley said police interviewed 90 families who were divided into three groups of children most likely to have been abused by Perkins, children possibly abused and those who did not have contact with him.

"The abuse which occurred at St Ann's was shocking and appalling and the immediate handling of it in 1991 was unacceptable," he said.

Perkins died in prison in 2009 after being jailed for 10 years in 2003 after pleading guilty to sex offences.

The hearing is continuing.

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Farmers want fair deal from Japan FTA

Australia's peak farming body says a FTA with Japan needs to benefit the whole agriculture sector. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S peak farming body is urging the federal government not to be pressured by Japan's powerful agricultural lobby as it enters the final stage of negotiations for a free trade agreement.

The federal government is rumoured to be close to finalising a broad deal to liberalise trade and boost market access to Japan, Australia's second-largest trading partner.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has promised to sign an FTA with Japan by September, and is expected to advance talks significantly during a trip to Tokyo next month.

But the National Farmers Federation is concerned there could be carve-outs in the deal to appease influential Japanese groups determined to protect their key agricultural commodities from competition.

NFF president Brent Finlay said in his experience all meetings with Japanese trade groups - including a major delegation in Canberra this week - started the same way.

"They are very quick to reinforce the importance of their key five ag (agricultural) commodities, and that their government will not move on those ag commodities," Mr Finlay told AAP on Thursday.

Japanese agriculture groups have traditionally fought hard - and often successfully - to protect their rice, sugar, beef, diary, grain and pork sectors.

Mr Finlay said this wasn't surprising given the influence of massive agricultural lobby firms in Japan like JA Zenchu, worth an estimated $40 billion.

"That gives you an indication of the power that they wield," he said.

The NFF wasn't happy when rice was carved out of a recent FTA deal with South Korea, and expects more concessions being made to the Japanese as the Abbott government tries to wind up seven years of talks.

"We're saying to them not to pursue it at all costs," Mr Finlay said.

The federation says the tariff regime remains a "significant point of conjecture" with the Japan negotiations, and they want all Australian sectors - including rice and beef - to get improved market access.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said he was confident gains could be made on beef, but the Japanese delegation wasn't giving anything away in meetings this week.

"The Japanese, the one thing they are is extremely astute in their commentary," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Japanese trade with Australia was worth $71.1 billion in 2012, and if successful the deal is forecast to add $39 billion to Australia's economy over 20 years.

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Trauma study targets 300 Vietnam veterans

300 Vietnam veterans will take part in a Queensland-based study into post-traumatic stress disorder. Source: AAP

HAUNTED by images of mangled bodies, Vietnam veteran Tony Dell hasn't slept for more than four hours a night during the past 40 years.

When he returned home in 1968 after serving a year in Vietnam he became introverted, edgy, angry, had difficulty sleeping and his marriage broke down.

It wasn't until 2008, when he began talking about the war, that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"I still get flashbacks ... bullets whizzing over your head and mangled up bodies," the former Australian Test cricketer told AAP from his home on the Sunshine Coast.

"The problem is it sinks into your subconscious and stays there and it ferments and eventually it comes out as PTSD."

Keen to create more awareness around the disorder which affects five to 10 per cent of Australians, Mr Dell on Wednesday became the first of 300 Vietnam veterans to take part in a new Queensland-based research project into PTSD.

The Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation and RSL Queensland study will look at the health risks of PTSD such as heart disease and cancer, and the role genetics plays.

"We think that stress is interacting with genes that predispose people to these diseases," lead researcher Queensland University of Technology Professor Ross Young told AAP.

Of those veterans involved in the study, half suffer from PTSD.

Prof Young is hopeful the year-long study will improve diagnosis, treatment and potentially prevention.

Mr Dell treats his symptoms by exercising and talking about his war experience, and has spent the past several years encouraging others to speak to out.

"If I'd talked about the war when I first got home things wouldn't have been so tough," he said.

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Motorcyclist killed in fiery highway crash

A motorcyclist has died after he was thrown from his bike in a crash on the NSW mid-north coast. Source: AAP

A MOTORCYCLIST has been killed after he was thrown from his bike in a fiery crash on the NSW mid-north coast.

A number of witnesses rendered first aid after the head-on crash with a Holden Commodore on the Pacific Highway at Korora, near Coffs Harbour, on Wednesday afternoon.

But the man, aged in his 50s, died at the scene.

Other bystanders extinguished the man's motorbike, which burst into flames from the crash.

Police said the Commodore driver was uninjured but taken to hospital for mandatory blood and urine tests.

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Horse with Hendra virus put down in Qld

A horse has been put down in the Queensland town of Bundaberg after contracting the Hendra virus. Source: AAP

A HORSE has been put down in the Queensland city of Bundaberg after contracting the Hendra virus.

It's the first Hendra virus incident in the state this year.

The horse fell ill during the weekend and was put down on Monday.

Late last night, test results confirmed it had the bat-borne virus.

Queensland chief veterinary officer Rick Symons said the site had been quarantined and would remain that way for several more weeks.

Biosecurity Queensland is still deciding what to do about a neighbouring property.

"We understand that it's one neighbouring property that has, we're told, seven horses and so we assess the contact of that horse, those horses with the infected horse," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"Then we make an assessment whether we need to test those horses and whether we need to quarantine that property.

"We haven't got to that stage yet."

Dr Symons urged horse owners to vaccinate their animals.

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McCann police seek lone intruder

BRITISH detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are looking for a lone intruder who sexually abused five girls during break-ins at holiday homes in Portugal.

The tanned, dark-haired man is suspected of breaking in to 12 properties where British families were staying in the Algarve between 2004 and 2010.

In five of the incidents, girls aged between seven and 10 years were sexually assaulted.

These attacks happened between 2004 and 2006, before Madeleine vanished in 2007.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said tracing the man, said to have "an unhealthy interest in young white female children", was one of his priority lines of inquiry.

His team has 38 people classed as "persons of interest" to the inquiry, and is also sifting through details of 530 known sex offenders whose whereabouts cannot be accounted for.

Of those, 59 are classed as high priority, and some are British.

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The Rolling Stones land in Australia

British rock royalty The Rolling Stones have touched down in Australia ahead of their first concert. Source: AAP

THE Rolling Stones have landed in Australia.

Frontman Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts stepped off their private jet emblazoned with the band's trademark tongue logo in Perth early on Monday (AEDT).

A photo, posted on the band's official Twitter account, shows the Stones standing on the tarmac just in front of the plane.

"Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie have just landed in Australia! See you at #StonesPerth on Wednesday!" the band tweeted.

A YouTube video of their arrival has also been uploaded onto their Twitter page.

The Stones announced their 14 On Fire six-show stadium tour of Australia on December 4. Their first concert will be at Perth Arena on Wednesday night.

Fans will be treated to classics like Paint It Black, Jumping Jack Flash and It's Only Rock and Roll, mixed with some lesser known songs and a few covers.

The veteran English rockers last performed in Australia in 2006.

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600,000 early ballots ready for WA poll

600,000 ballot papers have been printed ahead of the early voting period for the WA senate election. Source: AAP

MORE than 600,000 of the hefty ballot papers for the re-run West Australian Senate election have been printed ahead of the early voting period.

Early voting centres will open on Tuesday for people unable to vote on election day, April 5.

Those unable to get to an early voting centre or to a polling booth on election day can apply online for a postal vote.

Kathy Mitchell, the Australian Electoral Officer for WA, said more than 85,000 West Australians had applied for a postal vote since the fresh election was called.

The Australian Electoral Commission began mailing out postal vote packs and ballot papers on Monday.

Locations and opening times of early voting centres in WA are available on the AEC website.

The re-run election is estimated to be costing taxpayers more than $20 million.

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Ex-MP Thomson to face sentencing hearing

Craig Thomson will face a pre-sentence hearing in Melbourne for his misuse of union credit cards. Source: AAP

FORMER federal MP Craig Thomson will soon find out whether prosecutors want him to be jailed for his misuse of union-issued credit cards.

Thomson has been found guilty of fraud for using the cards to pay for escorts and make cash withdrawals while he was the Health Services Union's national secretary and a Labor MP.

Prosecutors will make submissions to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday about an appropriate penalty for the 49-year-old.

Thomson was last month found guilty of six charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception over the payments to escorts, totalling more than $5500.

Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said it was an "affront to common sense" that payments to escorts could ever be considered a legitimate expense.

He said Thomson must have known that using the cards for personal expenses was not allowed.

Mr Rozencwajg also found Thomson guilty of 16 charges of theft over the cash withdrawals totalling $6250.

Charges relating to Thomson hiring pornographic movies and other instances of using the card to pay for his then-wife Christa Thomson's travel were dismissed.

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Modern workplace awards open for review

Pay and conditions of low-paid Australian workers are being reviewed by the Fair Work Commission. Source: AAP

THE Fair Work Commission has left the door open for workplace awards covering industries such as hospitality and transport to be overhauled.

The commission on Monday released its decision on the scope of a four-yearly review of the Modern Award system, which Labor in government created in 2010.

The commission will examine 122 modern awards as part of the review, covering a wide range of industries, including cleaning, hospitality, manufacturing, transport, mining and banking.

The review, due to be finished by mid-2015, will allow the commission to make decisions on varying award minimum pay and conditions.

Industry groups argue greater flexibility is needed in regard to part-time work and penalty rates.

The Abbott government has argued the commission should consider the softening economic environment and impact of employment costs when making its decisions.

But unions say the review needs to lead to better conditions for apprentices, improve rights for workers seeking to balance family commitments and set a base safety net of conditions and entitlements for casuals.

The commission said in its decision that the principle of a "fair and relevant minimum safety net of terms of conditions" could be broadly interpreted and depend on the industry to which it applies, as well as its historical context.

"There may be no one set of provisions in a particular modern award which can be said to provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net of terms and conditions," the decision said.

"There may be a number of permutations of a particular modern award, each of which may be said to achieve the modern awards objective."

The commission said some changes may be determined with "little formality", but others will require a more substantial "merit argument".

By law, modern awards can be varied if there is a "work value reason" for doing so.

Such reasons can relate to the nature of the work, the level of skill or responsibility involved and the conditions under which the work is done.

The commission will release a draft plan on how it will approach the review on April 14 and has scheduled a conference for May 13.

Labor workplace relations spokesman Brendan O'Connor said the government's involvement in the Fair Work Commission review process was a "dangerous cocktail for workers".

"This government can't help itself when it comes to undermining the pay and conditions of workers," Mr O'Connor said through a spokesman on Monday.

He said the coalition's policy of having an appellate jurisdiction over the commission would give that the power to overturn decisions of the full bench of the commission, including on the future of modern awards.

A spokeswoman for Employment Minister Eric Abetz said the minister encouraged anyone with a view on modern awards to make a submission to the review.

The commission's review upholds important protections, ACTU assistant secretary Tim Lyons says.

"Anybody wanting to make significant changes to awards - for example, by reducing or removing penalty rates - will be held to a high standard of argument and evidence," Mr Lyons told AAP in a statement.

The union also noted the commission's acknowledgment that there is no problem with current arrangements which provide different award provisions to different industries.

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Premier Hodgman gets straight to work

Will Hodgman has declared he begins his new job as Tasmania's premier with a mandate for change. Source: AAP

TASMANIA'S next premier Will Hodgman has spent day one after the Liberals' thumping election victory familiarising himself with the job.

Mr Hodgman has joined deputy Jeremy Rockliff and likely treasurer Peter Gutwein in meetings with the heads of the premier's department and treasury.

In scenes that mirrored the election of prime minister Tony Abbott last year, Mr Hodgman ticked off day one of a 100-day plan and didn't address the media.

The Liberals grabbed 52 per cent of the primary vote, a swing of 12 per cent, to win at least 14 of the lower house's 25 seats and take power for the first time in 16 years.

Mr Hodgman told department heads his team was serious about turning around Tasmania's struggling economy.

"We appreciate, having spent some time in opposition, there'll be a lot we need to hear from you as to what's required of us," he said.

"My team ... are keen to start work straight away. But we will do things in a sensible and methodical way as well.

"We are not proposing anything radical."

But his refusal to answer questions was immediately attacked by defeated Labor premier Lara Giddings.

Asked about the Liberals' disciplined campaign, Ms Giddings hit out on "day of the next election campaign".

"Discipline in not even being available to answer questions on your first day as the next premier is not really acceptable," she said.

With more than 80 per cent of the vote counted, the ALP had secured six seats, the Greens probably three while two were still in doubt.

Ms Giddings was clinging to hope that Labor could finish with as many as nine, the final outcome not expected for another 10 days.

"I'm not conceding any of the seats that are still in doubt," Ms Giddings told reporters.

"We don't know how the preferences will flow."

Ms Giddings, who confirmed she would be a candidate for the Labor leadership, said her government's rout had not been unexpected.

"It's a result that we're not unsurprised by in terms of the tough decisions we've had to make, the issues that were thrown at us ... and of course the difficulty of combating a very negative opposition," she said.

Greens leader Nick McKim was expected to retain the leadership of his party despite an eight per cent swing against it.

He joined Ms Giddings in reiterating support for Tasmania's forest peace deal between environmentalists and the timber industry.

The elected Liberals have promised to tear up the agreement, which protects contentious forests from logging in return for green group support of a plantation-based industry.

Signatories to the deal The Wilderness Society and Environment Tasmania also called on it to be retained.

"Will, can we just see your forest plan please mate?" Mr McKim said.

"Nobody's seen it and we'd like to see how you're actually going to do what you say you are going to do."

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Stolen BMW crashes into driver: police

POLICE in Perth are investigating a pursuit that ended with a 51-year-old man in a critical condition after his car was hit by a stolen BMW driven by a teenager.

Police say officers tried to stop the BMW on Albany Highway in East Victoria Park on Saturday night, but the 16-year-old driver sped off.

A brief chase by officers on the ground was taken over by the Police Air Wing, which continued to pursue the car.

Police said the BMW ran a red light at the intersection of McDowell Street and Orrong Road in Welshpool and struck another vehicle.

They said the young BMW driver ran off after the crash but Air Wing officers spotted him hiding in bushes and he was arrested a short time later.

He remains in custody and was later charged with aggravated dangerous driving causing bodily harm, no authority to drive, stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving and failing to stop when directed by police.

He is due to appear in the Perth Childrens Court on Monday.

The 51-year-old man is in Royal Perth Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Investigators from WA's major crash unit have been called in to investigate the crash, which will also be probed by the WA police internal affairs unit.

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Baby sisters in hospital after collision

TWO baby sisters are in a serious but stable condition after the hatchback they were travelling in collided with a NSW Fire and Rescue truck driving in the same direction on the Pacific Highway in Sydney's north.

A 17-month-old girl sustained head injuries and a one-month-old girl was treated for head and abdominal injuries at the scene in Ku-ring-gai before being taken to Westmead Childrens' Hospital, police said.

Their mother, 28, sustained minor injuries in the Sunday afternoon collision, while their 29-year-old father was uninjured.

Police are investigating the incident.

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20,000 Sydney homes lose power in storm

STRONG winds have lashed the NSW coast, cutting power to about 20,000 homes in Sydney's north and 19,000 on the Central Coast.

Residents between Palm Beach and Freshwater lost power early on Sunday afternoon and, about an hour later, State Emergency Service volunteers were called to 120 jobs, predominantly in the northern beaches.

This is expected to climb to about 300 by the end of the Sunday, Fairfax reports.

"This storm has hit Sydney so quickly, all our volunteers have just had to scramble together to get each job covered as quickly as possible," SES spokesman Todd Burns told Fairfax.

Responding to customers on Twitter, Ausgrid said it may take "a few hours" to restore power.

"It may take a few more hours depending on damage and location. Sorry for delays today. storm came thru fast and furious," Ausgrid said on Twitter.

Wind gusting up to 90 km/h was recorded at Terry Hills and 16 millimetres of rain fell in about 15 minutes at nearby Hornsby, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.

"The cell was moving so quickly it didn't have a chance to drop too much," a bureau spokesman told AAP.

Further north, winds blew across Evans Head at 115km/h and through Casino at 107 km/h.

At Williamtown, near Newcastle, wind ripped through at 95 km/h, and speeds between 90 and 100 km/h were recorded at Gunnedah, Glenn Innes on the northern tablelands, Scone and in the upper Hunter regions.

The storm is now well gone and the BOM is forecasting dry, sunny days in the high 20s for the start of the week after a cool Sunday night.

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